Base effect subdues pharma market's growth in Feb

New Delhi, March 6 (IANS) High base effect along with volume decline subdued the growth of India's pharmaceuticals market, India Ratings and Research (Ind-Ra) said.Accordingly, the volume declined in the anti-infective and respiratory products was pronounced during the month."Ind-Ra expects a growth improvement over the coming months as the vaccination drive gains momentum and a lower base leads to better growth momentum.""However, IPM grew 1.1 per cent YoY during February 2021, due to a 5.8 per cent volume decline, price growth of 4.8 per cent and products launches at 2.1 per cent."According to Ind-Ra, acute therapies such as gastro and vitamins witnessed sales growth of 9.9 per cent YoY and 8.6 per cent YoY, respectively, while anti-infectives declined 11.3 per cent YoY during February 2021."A growth outperformance was observed in chronic therapies during the month, with cardiac and anti-diabetic growing 7.3 per cent YoY and 4.3 per cent YoY, respectively."
--IANS rv/sn/in